This is a game full of unique ideas and mechanics that remain fresh all the way until the credits roll. This remaster has brought the graphics to a point where it may as well be modern - an animated art style will always hold up better than realism but this game came out in 2007 and you would not think it to look at it. I could gush about all the ways this game is great but in the fairness of my time I'm going to mostly highlight the small negatives I have with it.
The biggest issue that holds back true love for this game is just how much it wastes your time. A level in this game will take around 5 - 10 minutes to complete, but each and every time you get a star (of which you will be getting many) the game kicks you out to the Observatory. End of level animation, animation of coming back to the Dome, score trackers going up, ask if you want to save, wait for it to save, use the blue star to access level select, choose level, confirm, watch animation of Mario flying to level, wait for stars to appear, select star, confirm, camera pans over level, Mario flies in - now you can play. This happening for every single level means you spend collective hours in this meaningless downtime. It seems a small thing to harp on but this game at minimum requires 60 stars to complete, and you are going to go through that process every single time - even longer if the level you want to do is in a different dome.
The other time wasting issue comes from the dialogue; it's overall a smaller issue but the text boxes being unskippable for several seconds is annoying to someone who can read quicker than the target demographic of 8 year olds.
The game's soundtrack is majestic, the graphics awe inspiring and the gameplay is varied and challenging. I would give this game my highest recommendation, but unfortunately it is locked behind this obscenely over-priced bundle on the switch. I get that these games (64, Sunshine and Galaxy) make up some of the most important titles ever released, but £70 for three games that are decades old is a crime.
The biggest issue that holds back true love for this game is just how much it wastes your time. A level in this game will take around 5 - 10 minutes to complete, but each and every time you get a star (of which you will be getting many) the game kicks you out to the Observatory. End of level animation, animation of coming back to the Dome, score trackers going up, ask if you want to save, wait for it to save, use the blue star to access level select, choose level, confirm, watch animation of Mario flying to level, wait for stars to appear, select star, confirm, camera pans over level, Mario flies in - now you can play. This happening for every single level means you spend collective hours in this meaningless downtime. It seems a small thing to harp on but this game at minimum requires 60 stars to complete, and you are going to go through that process every single time - even longer if the level you want to do is in a different dome.
The other time wasting issue comes from the dialogue; it's overall a smaller issue but the text boxes being unskippable for several seconds is annoying to someone who can read quicker than the target demographic of 8 year olds.
The game's soundtrack is majestic, the graphics awe inspiring and the gameplay is varied and challenging. I would give this game my highest recommendation, but unfortunately it is locked behind this obscenely over-priced bundle on the switch. I get that these games (64, Sunshine and Galaxy) make up some of the most important titles ever released, but £70 for three games that are decades old is a crime.